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Well, rather more than a little tour – and this is part one from a week’s holiday in Venice. I have edited, seriously edited, these images from just slightly more than 3000, to a few hundred. And horticulture is, I have to admit, quite limited in these watery parts. Some beautiful balconies, and one or two private gardens that can be glimpsed through ornate gateways. One park, a tree-lined island and in a new post a trip to Padua, and […]

Bulbs for the Festive Season I have a workshop tomorrow at the Nurseries where we will be exploring how to prepare, use and style with fragrant Paperwhite, Hyacinths and the drama that is undoubtedly the Hippeastrum (Amaryllis). These will add a richness and natural beauty to your homes throughout the Christmas period and in the weeks beyond, and especially after all the decorations have been packed away again and Spring seems still to be a long way off. Some […]

Originally posted on The Teddington Gardener: Hippeastrum Royal Red Sarah Raven, never one to shy away from strong colours, expounds on the beautiful amaryllis/hippeastrum… The Telegraph 16th November 2007 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3345515/Amaryllis-the-power-flower.html Dazzlingly over-the-top, amaryllis are the perfect cut flower for Christmas. Sarah Raven shows how to grow and arrange them Amaryllis have replaced poinsettias as Britain’s favourite Christmas plant and that’s a great thing. These huge South African bulbs make brilliant winter house plants and are the longest-lasting winter cut flower…

Originally posted on The Teddington Gardener: The Glasshouse at RHS Wisley is host to a trial of Hippeastrums (though you might say Amaryllis) and a fine show they make, with such a wide variety of form and colour, with giant trumpets and spidery filamentous-ness side by side, gentle pastels against the brassiest and brightest, velvet against satin against crystal. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/plants-blogs/plant-trials/february-2015/hippeastrum-on-trial Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) are the tropical South American plants that are so popular at Christmas for their large colourful blooms –…

Originally posted on The Teddington Gardener: After a cycle ride along the towpath and the Thames sparkling in the sunshine, and nearly being late for taking so many photographs, a look in the Kitchen Garden first, which was the vegetable garden but has been co-opted into an additional Cutting Garden, as well as having the peony beds, Hellebores, many old roses and a perennial border with wall-trained pear trees and more roses. And the chicken coop. Mellow, aged red-brick paths…

I have a workshop this week where we will delve into turning our gardens, in the chill months ahead, into winter borders filled with interesting plants, colours and textures. Anchor plants with attractive foliage, the tracery and silhouettes of seedheads and dried stems and flower heads, and ornamental fruit, evergreen shrubs with scented flowers for the depths of midwinter, beautiful trees with fascinating bark, grasses and ferns, climbers to clothe the garden boundaries and bring flower into the coldest months. […]

Originally posted on The Teddington Gardener: I had the time to visit the gardens at RHS Wisley on Wednesday this week, the sunniest of days and quiet too (everybody else was at the work, or the supermarket, or on the M25… ) The colour and fragrance on offer was unexpectedly generous, with Camellias and Rhododendrons, Witch Hazel, Chimonathus and Edgworthia, Hellebores and Snowdrops, Crab Apples and wild Pears, Winter Honeysuckle, decorative bark and even the decaying seed- and flower heads…

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Teddington Gardener

These pages illustrate my love of plants and gardens, design and creative expression – learning more about horticulture and sharing the knowledge. Here you will find a showcase for my own photography, commentary on plants and places visited, horticultural know-how, a dose of inspiration and a seasonal diary for your garden.